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6. A westbound freight has just met a hard-charging eastbound Denver-toSalt Lake City piggyback train. Here at Crescent Siding, Mike painted the backdrop to reflect the climate change that occurs in the higher elevations. The dispatcher-controlled turnouts are powered with Tortoise switch motors, while the remaining turnouts use the stock Peco spring contacts. As a matter of accessibility, I installed track and wiring on the lower-deck staging yards before beginning the main line. Within 12 months of hauling lumber home, I was pleased to have trains traversing the steep main line. From the seven-track East Staging Yard and Union Station (401⁄2" elevation), the railroad travels upgrade slightly to North Yard (42" elevation). From there the railroad climbs the 2 percent ruling grade to Moffat Tunnel, at an elevation of 62". A spiral helix routes the track down to the nine-track west staging yard. As a provision for continuous running, I added a single-track connection between the two staging yards. This connection is beneficial for repositioning trains following an operating session or just watching trains carve through the landscape. Realistic mountain scenery When it was time to add scenery to my layout, I wanted to try something out of the ordinary. I decided that the nearly two-foot vertical climb my railroad makes 58 Model Railroader • www.ModelRailroader.com to Moffat Tunnel should reflect the change in climate that occurs during the ascent. I wanted a train heading west from Denver on a typical spring day to traverse green grass around the mesas of Big 10 curve, carve through the rugged Flatirons rock formations, and arrive at Crescent, where dense evergreens display the trace amounts of snow that blanket higher elevations near Pinecliffe. To build this dynamic scenery, I first installed a terrain base made of 1" and 2" foam insulation board. I found that when glued into stacks, this material was easy to carve into realistic landforms. Dense foam board is also quite solid, which is especially important in sections where I planned to plant trees or apply